Colleen Plumb attended the University of Illinois in Urbana and studied drawing before transferring to Northern Illinois University, earning a BFA in Visual Communication in 1992. Plumb holds an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago (1999), where she is currently an adjunct faculty member. Prior to earning her MFA, Plumb worked as a graphic designer until one day while driving home she saw the most beautiful light on the side of a brick building in Chicago and decided to follow her heart and start making pictures.

Plumb’s work is in the permanent collections at the Museum of Contemporary Photography; the Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago; and the Beijing Natural Cultural Center in China. Her photographs are part of the Midwest Photographers Project at the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Chicago Project at Catherine Edelman Gallery. Recent exhibitions include a solo exhibit at the Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago; group shows at Santa Monica Art Studios, California; Humble Arts Foundation, New York; Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago; Evanston Biennial, Evanston, Illinois; Chicago Cultural Center; and the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C.

Currently, Plumb’s photographs are on display in Beyond the Backyard at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, and will be featured on Photo-Eye’s website as a Photographer’s Showcase. Her work has been published in Photography Now: 100 Portfolios, published by Wright State University; SHOTS 2005 Portfolio Issue; Nature, 6×6 Series published by Columbia College Chicago; CITY 2000, published by the Comer Foundation; A Field Guide to the American Family, by Garth Risk Hallberg; and Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age, by Robert Hirsch, 2007.